Breaking the barriers Southern African female freelance journalists face

In a recent interview with the South African freelance photojournalist Sumaya Hisham, she said to me: “As a freelancer, it feels like my job is more full-time than it is freelance.”

As soon as she finishes shooting and editing, she is back on the hunt for the next job, pitching stories, travelling, and doing the whole process all over again. The balance between work and life is a difficult one to achieve.

This is not just her experience, but a reality shared by many other female freelance journalists in Southern Africa.

In a 2020 report by the Southern African Freelancer’s Association (Safrea), 71 per cent of women said they freelance full time.

With 63 per cent of women working in the freelancing industry, it is notably one of the few job sectors within the media landscape that is women-led. However, that is not to say, the ‘area’ of freelancing is. For example, Photojournalist Ms Hisham and sports journalist Carol Tshabalala are both women based in South Africa who freelance in two very male-dominated sectors where inequality is still prominent.

Having more women in the freelancing sector can look like a step in the right direction on the surface but in actuality, it poses more questions regarding the industry’s treatment of women.

The unprecedented time of Covid-19 lockdown resulted in two-thirds of women losing their jobs. Specifically, in the media industry, an estimated amount of 300 to 400 journalists lost their jobs. Combining these two datasets from 2020, it’s possible to see how some full-time journalists who were made redundant had to switch their roles to freelance journalism, adding a potential explanation to the rise in numbers.

The pandemic did not stop there in making matters worse as 60 per cent of freelancers already working in the industry lost up to 70 per cent of their income. Those experiencing extreme financial struggle had to ask for assistance to meet daily necessities.

Equal pay

For women freelance journalists, income is the main area of concern due to unequal pay.

35 per cent of women earned below the salary of R10 000 in comparison to 30 per cent of men, reports Safrea.  To add,  almost 50 per cent of the male freelancers earned above the average salary of R22 387, whereas  41 per cent of women earned up to R20 000 per month, highlighting a clear difference in pay defined by gender.

Although these figures are from two years ago, they represent the most recent study in the freelance sector. Helping to paint a larger picture of how the gender disparities across media, are not only being experienced by permanent newsroom and media house staff but also by self-employed female journalists.

Among unequal pay, female freelancers providing stories for media houses where there is an imbalance of female to male editors can also face barriers to career progression and job security.

The unpredictable work hours, combined with the unsafe lengths female freelancers must take when reporting life-threatening stories to also being discriminated against as women, freelance work is not easy at all.

Even when navigating all of these challenges and more, freelance female journalists in the field, are determined to see changes in the media that also support their needs.

New groups and online communities have recently been created such as Journalists Africa. Founded by Jonathan Ancer, the website provides a space where African freelance and full-time journalists can come together and support one another.

One of the ways newsrooms can contribute to upcoming groups such as this,  is to connect with freelance journalists too. There is a lack of opportunities presented to them that could be presented if media houses knew where to find them. For this reason, databases of women freelance journalists in Southern Africa need to be created and utilised by all newsrooms.

Policies to achieving equal pay for female and male freelancers are also vital to diminishing the unfair challenges self-employed women in media are facing. If the average salary for freelance journalism in South Africa is R22 387 women should be paid the same amount as men as they also have to meet commitments and their upkeep. In South Africa currently, household incomes are still low as the economy remains in its recovery stages. For there to still be unequal pay is completely unfair, unreasonable, and catastrophic as it only acts to further apply greater pressure to the income stability of female freelancers.

The world of freelancing may not be glamorous, but it serves as a very important industry in the media that enables driven and devoted journalists to share stories which impact society and serve to fuel democracy.

Editors and directors from Southern African media houses need to recognise the women in freelance journalism not just for their  newsrooms but for the betterment of society.

Being self-employed journalists does not kick them out of the ecosystems that produce and disseminate news as they are very much part of the instruments that make the stories. Their voices and rights as women should be heard.

This article is part of African Women in Media (AWIM) Graduate Trainee Programme in collaboration with Fojo Media Institute